For International Choreographers Day: A Thing on The Apache Dance

We’ve had a gazillion occasions to mention the phenomenon known as the Apache Dance on this blog. For International Choreographer’s Day, we thought we’d do something a little more comprehensive. If you watch old movies you have almost certainly seen it depicted, and probably more than once. In the first half of the 20th century it required no explanation, so when it was shown it was never explained. But nowadays, anyone who comes upon such a scene in a movie must undoubtedly scratch their head.

The Apache Dance is a nightclub act combing elements of couples dancing, knockabout, and stage combat. Generally it consists of a man dressed a as a thief, thug or pimp, slapping his woman around (usually interpreted from the context as a prostitute) and slinging her about the floor. It’s a domestic violence dance! But to complicate matters, it’s also sexy. It’s not very feminist, but you could certainly do a feminist take on it.

Movies where you might scenes of the Apache Dance include Les Vampires (1915), Parisian Love (1925, with Clara Bow), The Rat (1925) with Ivor Novello, Sunshine of Paradise Alley (1926), Hot Heels (1928, with Glenn Tryon and Patsy Ruth Miller),Doughboys (1930, with Buster Keaton), City Lights (1931, with Charlie Chaplin), Limehouse Blues (1934, with George Raft and Anna May Wong), the all-star Gift of Gab (1934), Charlie Chain in Paris (1935), Tod Browning’s The Devil Doll(1936), Sons o’ Guns (1936, with Joe E. Brown), Queen of Hearts (1936) with Gracie Fields,Blake of Scotland Yard (1937) with Ralph Byrd,Sailing Along (1938) with Jack Whiting and Jessie Matthews, You’re in the Army Now (1941) with Jimmy Durante and Phil Silvers,The Gang’s All Here (1943) with Charlotte Greenwood,Pin Up Girl (1944) with Betty Grable, Lake Placid Seranade (1944, a Vera Ralston skating picture), The Razor’s Edge (1946), Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1952), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1954), Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955), and Can-Can (1960). You can also versions on old episodes of I Love Lucy and The Jack Benny Program.

You can guess from the titles of many of those films I hope that the dance was associated with Paris. Its roots go back at least to the late 19th century, both in New York vaudeville and Parisian cabarets. Films from early as 1897 and 1902 show acts with names like “Tough Dance” and Bowery Waltz” that bear some similarity to what became codified, through the efforts of dancers Maurice Mouvetand Max Dearly, in 1908 as the Apache Dance. The name comes from the Parisian nickname for gang members, obviously inspired by the Native American tribe which was renowned for its ferocity in battle. Because of its French vintage it is correctly pronounced “a-pash” or “a-posh” as opposed to the American “a-patchy”. If members of the tribe object to this nomenclature, I don’t know. It’s probably too obscure for them to bother about.

The music conventionally used for the Apache Dance is Offenbach’s “Valse des Rayons” from Le Papillon. Dearly made a splash with the dance with Mistinguett at the Moulin Rouge. Mouvet introduced it at Maxim’s with a partner named Leona. Louise Alexander and Joseph C. Smith brought it Broadway in The Queen of the Moulin Rouge (1980-09). Polaire brought an act featuring an Apache Dance to Hammerstein’s Victoria in 1910. Valeska Surratt performed one on the circuits with her husband Billy Gould. Rock and Fulton performed it in vaudeville, too.

Lastly, there was an Apache Dance in the Marx Brothers first Broadway show, the 1924 revue I’ll Say She Is. This is when I truly got to appreciate it, for we included it in our 2014 production of the show, although to my great distress we had to cut it. But an account of that experience is here.

For more on show business history,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on silent movies please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.